Category: 2017

We all know her, the mother of Jesus. She’s probably the most well-known woman in the Bible throughout the world.

I was having a discussion with someone the other day about a conversation between Mary and a certain angel. You may have heard of him, his name is Gabriel. And you’ve probably heard the conversation before. If not, you can read it here.

Our discussion centered around Verse 37, which is quite popular:

“For with God, nothing will be impossible.”

As Christians, we reference this scripture quite often. It is mentioned in various ways throughout the Bible: the sheer ability of God is so overwhelming that we often operate in ways that contradict it. We place God in a box. We may acknowledge that He can do anything, yet often times we put a ‘but’ in there for good measure.

Personally, I’ve never doubted God’s ability in a general sense – in my nature, the question is never can God do this, but will He do it….and will He do it for me?

As Christmas is a few days away, my mind is on Mary. What was so special about her? I don’t think there was anything particularly special about her, except her humanity and willingness to be obedient. Her obedience cast her into a load of responsibility that changed the face of the world. And all she did was say yes.

How much can God work miracles in our lives, if only we will cast fear and doubt aside, and say yes? Can we also be impregnated with a remarkable destiny if only we believe?

The word is in your mouth. God spoke His Word out into the dead world, giving it life and fulfilling His will.

Words are spirit; and when spoken, a word will search for a body to be established, because it cannot return. The preacher has to establish the word in himself; until the word is established in a body, the word remains spirit.

When we speak a word that comes from God, it is intentional – there is someone with a certain situation who is meant to hear and receive. That’s why it’s dangerous to listen to gossip, and listen to garbage; it will influence what we preach – it weakens discernment. It is also very important to function under the unction of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore the speaker becomes the carrier of the Word, which is the Holy Spirit established in us (The life I live not I that live but Christ that lives in us), if we are given the authority to speak the Word, then we are also given the authority to unlock any barrier to the establishment of the word. Until the word is established it remains unfulfilled.

The word needs to become flesh. If our hearts are not right, the word will not germinate and produce. The word is not the problem, the ground of our hearts is; until we fix our hearts to receive, we will remain a un-fertile ground. The word is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, it will accomplished the task it sets out in the lives of whoever has prepared themselves to receive.

We had a great service on Resurrection Sunday last week, and today we had an awesome service that including a moving baby dedication.

I realized that even though the time set aside for celebrating the extraordinary sacrifice Jesus made for his people out of love has come and gone, the feeling of overwhelming gratitude and appreciation is still felt…and as follower of Christ, I want to celebrate this victory FOREVER!

This is the poem I wrote for Easter, I hope it blesses you! Selah.

Jesus is the epitome of love
And I pray that every heart will reflect the gift of Your sacrifice
A gift no other being could fathom, that no other being could bear
to lay down for Your brother Your own innocent life
That all may know God, that all may come to hear
The good news of Jesus Christ, the epitome of love

The filthy rags of my soul are only made beautiful
By Your blood
Thick, heavy, fragrant like oil
It covers us and makes us whole
And is nothing but impossible
But what is impossible is more than possible with You, Jesus
With You alone

No one should have to tell us to worship Christ
Because the whips and the nails and thorns more than suffice
And yet we still reject the gift of life
That only Jesus can give us, why?

Today is a day to reflect on missed opportunity
Every moment we live is closer to eternity
Not just for you, but every soul on this blessed earth
Every soul – each loved and cared for through grace
Can you count them all? Can you even imagine?
The time we could be embracing God and spreading the love of Jesus
Who is the epitome of everything?
So many wandering around lost, with great chasms in their souls
Where only Jesus can fit

And fit He will, because He is alive, He is alive
It gives me so much joy to shout that He is alive
The King is not dead, He is risen
Because His perfect love has won us all the victory
We have the victory

The truth be told: A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (Galatians 5:9)

We often wonder why we have to deal with so many challenging situations. Why do I have to deal with so many problems? I am a good person and yet I have this weight carrying. That’s what’s wrong, the weight I am carrying. A problem is defined as an unintended deviation from a plan or objective. Without complete trust in the leadership of the Blessed Holy Spirit, it is very difficult to identify and appropriately deal with the devil’s traps. His traps are specifically and meticulously designed to cause problems for US. The devil’s goal is that we end up living in our deviation not or destiny.

So, brothers and sisters, I implore us all to put the weight down, without which we will never be able to objectively run this race to a successful conclusion.

Relate: On March 1, more than a hundred sixty years ago a young man named Hudson stepped off the Dumfries and onto Chinese soil. For over a year he toured the Shanghai area over and over again trying to preach the gospel to little avail. He then made a radical (at that time) decision to start wearing Chinese clothing and shave everything except the queue (pigtail). Basically this Englishman chose to become Chinese and once he did so, doors and arms were opened wide to him and he began to see a great move of God. The organization he started, China Inland Mission was directly responsible for eighteen thousand converts, starting 175 schools and raising…

The truth be told: A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (Galatians 5:9)

Leaven : (A pervasive influence that modifies something, or transforms it for the better)

This is a wonderful use of metaphor. There are things (Especially ones we consider small and harmless) in our lives that are modifying and transforming God’s plans for our growth and development (blessing) and causes us to focus on our ability to acquire (prosperity). These can be people, habits, misguided desires, works of the flesh (Gal 5), and poor choices. The scriptures teach us to lay aside every weight and sin. Today we are talking about weight, and how God will not take away any weight we don’t first lay down.(Heb 12:1)

Matthew 7:1-3“Judge not, that you be not judged.2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?

Its simple, when you are perfect, cast the first stone. Followers of Christ live their lives chasing after Jesus and learning to live in His truth. However one of the things we constantly fail to realize is how much we are not like Him.:

Its simple, none of us. The Bible is full of ways for us to improve ourselves, yet one of the biggest stigmas on Christian culture is how judgemental we are – that we know what is best for others. In reality, the only thing we know for certain is that Christ died on the cross in the hopes that all would come to repentance and have eternal life. We also know that while he was on Earth, He spent a majority of His limited time with people, showing them the love of God and the value they have within themselves.

Chasing after Jesus means that we Christ left the Holy Spirit with us to give us power beyond our weaknesses, and being filled with the Holy Spirit is the closest to perfection that we will ever reach on earth. This not to say that we shouldn’t be held accountable, but being a Christian takes going so much furter. It takes consistent, daily transformation of our own lives. That is what our focus should be — filling our entire lives with the light of God…then we can be a beacon of light to draw all men to Him.

When we abide in the Lord and trust in His words, a glory in us He will reveal, when we do His will and Obey His command; no devil in hell can take our blessings. There awaits us, all Spiritual blessings in heavenly places if we only surrender our all to the Lordship of Jesus Christ the Messiah. Why are we so concern about our haters when:

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matt 5:11-13)

Proverbs 14:11 “The house of the wicked will be destroyed,but the tent of the upright will flourish.”

I came across this scripture, and it made me think about the immigration situation, particularly in the United States.

It takes at truly selfless person to understand the plight of an immigrant, especially a refugee. But to concern yourself with the oppression of others is not only a selfless thing to do, but it is one of the most Christ like. Jesus loved us so much that He took on our oppression as a price for our freedom – and all we have to do is accept Him.

We don’t have to pass a test or go through an obstacle course to get to Jesus, all we have to do is say yes. We don’t have to fill out any papers or pass some background check. He has already done all the work. He has been standing at the door, waiting to let us in. All we need to do is knock.

This Proverb stood out to me because it says the house of the wicked and then refers to the tent of the upright; and the tent made me think about refugee camps. The camps where refugees live in tents, watching as their homes are destroyed or dealing with the separation from their families. Not sure where their next meal will come from or what their next move should be.

In Matthew 25, Jesus directly identifies himself with the downtrodden: 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”

This is the measure of the final judgement before God. Sit back and think on your life: What have I don’t to people? What am I doing to aid those who are suffering? This was so important to God that Jesus repeats himself in order for there to be no confusion: Help People. That’s it. It doesn’t matter who they are or what they have done. Because it is not about them or you. It is about God’s Kingdom and pouring out the love of Jesus.

Matthew 25:40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[c] you were doing it to me!’

Matthew 25:45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

We can only be like Christ when we learn to identify with those He also identified with. Jesus knew that he was a King, the Son of the Most High God. He knew he wasn’t merely an ordinary man by any standard, but those were His people. Jesus loved them all, and it is this unexplainable love that led Him to lay down His life in the hopes that people would be free. So why do we continue to accept excuses for oppression when we are in a place to offer freedom? Lord, I pray:

Titus 3:5 “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”